Truly sadden by my Prime purchase - status/plans for RPN support?

[kevinwaite]

Hello,
I lept without looking and bought a HP Prime 2AP18AA#ABA, a week ago.

I learned to make a user key put up %CHANGE() on the entry line - but still must press enter to execute it. I do not understand this? Is there a way to have a program execute what it returns? Which for me is kind of the purpose of a user defined key.

I learned that ALL of my simple yet very useful programs, that have worked for decades with the X and Y values on the stack are appearing to be incompatible on the HP Prime? Why would HP Prime programs not have access to the stack? I am shaking me head???

I have tried to make a user function that works using the level 1: value on the stack, with no success.

I have not studied all of the functionality but for HMS+ and HMS- to be missing is again perplexing and maddening.

My Prime is updated to the 5/5/2021 firmware.

Is there a list of what new was provided in each firmware release?

The HP site seems to not be selling the HP Prime any longer, does anyone know what the 2021 and future is in terms of improving the HP Prime going forward?

Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you all for all you have done!!! This is the go-to for HP calcs.

Best regards,
Kevin Waite

owner of 19c, many 41xx and hp48/49/50 and now a HP Prime.
And was president of the NCSU PPC chapter back when the dino's roamed....

[Steve Simpkin]

The HP Prime is descended from the HP-38G line of algebraic graphing calculators which were designed for the education market. The Prime is very different than the HP-48 line that you are used to and it has its own programming language (PPL).

The Prime is still available new, just not from the HP website. The developers are still supporting this model. The latest software version was released on May 5th. It added the Python programming language (MicroPython) and addressed a number of bugs. See the release_info.txt file in the following ZIP file for a list of all the charges.

https://www.hpcalc.org/details/7783

[Joe Horn]

(07-05-2021 03:27 PM)kevinwaite Wrote:  ...
I have not studied all of the functionality but for HMS+ and HMS- to be missing is again perplexing and maddening.
...

Prime has something even better than HMS+ and HMS-. It performs math directly on HMS-formatted numbers in Home view. You can create HMS-format numbers in several ways in Home view:

(1) Key them directly, using the [ ° ' " ] key, which is accessed by [Shift] [a b/c]. Example: to key in 1°2'3", key 1 [ ° ' " ] 2 [ ° ' " ] 3. A final press of [ ° ' " ] is optional.

(2) Convert a decimal number to HMS format via the →HMS function.

(3) Convert the most recent result (or any highlighted number on the history stack) by simply pressing [ ° ' " ] once. Convert back by pressing it again.

HMS-format numbers can be calculated with directly, without needing any special functions like HMS+. Example in RPN mode: 1°2'3" Enter 4°5'6" + --> 5°7'9".

You can even take square roots of angles (or times), and almost any other math, directly in HMS format, without any need for HMS+ et cetera.

[kevinwaite]

Hi Steve,

I am still trying to understand why HP would invest and work so hard on this HP Prime and forsake the several thousands of man-years of software development by going out-of-the way in walling off the stack on what is a HP programmable calculator that supports RPN?

A simple #pragma that says the stack is active would suffice, or a command that copies the current stack to a set of local variables, something?

A fundamental idea of a programmable calculator is to write programs to expand its power and use as a calculator - that the current math at hand (what you are doing) can be immediately acted upon by any program or function, especially ones you write.

Had it been made clear "descended from the HP-38G algebraic graphing calculators" I probably would not have bought - the general take I read was that the HP Prime is the successor to the HP 50g.

It is quite strange that the HP Prime is not discontinued specifically yet the HP online store is not selling them? The HP Prime WiFi connection kit seems to not be available anywhere, what was it costing?

Thank you for your response and feedback on the ROM updates.

Best regards,
-Kevin Waite

[kevinwaite]

Hello Joe,
Thank you for your education on HMS being an object type on the HP Prime, this is very cool. I was not thinking this through when I found HMS+ and HMS- missing - something had to be in their place. HMS as an object type is a powerful improvement indeed!

As it stands 'right now':
- user defined key requires the extra ENTER to execute?
- user functions cannot access the current stack in any way?
- user programs cannot access the current stack in any way, but can return a single object/value to the entry line.

As I wrote to Steve just above, it is hard to understand HP forsaking the many decades of vast proven customer written software? I do not mind reentering or converting to a new language - but a program on a programmable calculator should be able to use the current math at hand on the calculator - this characteristic alone helps justify carrying a programmable calculator along in addition to a smartphone.

All is not lost, I have been using HP 48/49 emulation on my iPhone from as soon as such was available.

Best regards,
-Kevin Waite

[Liamtoh Resu]

Steve's mentioning of the HP 38g piqued my interest in comparing the prime to the hp38g.

I looked at some of the docs for the 38g and decided to order the h838g and
and the calc to computer cable.

The syntax of the programming languages are slighty different. Aplets on the
38g looked interesting too.

I am hoping this will help me with the prime. My pattern is to find various solutions
to a problem before I get in the zone and come up with the simplest solution.

Thanks.

[Stevetuc]

(07-07-2021 04:17 AM)kevinwaite Wrote:  As it stands 'right now':
- user defined key requires the extra ENTER to execute?
- user functions cannot access the current stack in any way?
- user programs cannot access the current stack in any way, but can return a single object/value to the entry line.


Best regards,
-Kevin Waite

In this demo program I read 4 levels of the stack , multiply them by 2 , and pass the results back to 4 stack levels, pushing the original data up.
A user key allows to return a string unquoted to the command line. Pressing enter then executes the contents of the string.
By passing a string such as " s4 s3 s2 s1" ,the vars are each sent to a level of the stack.

To run , enter data into 4 stack levels, then <shift user 4> and <enter>

Code:


EXPORT s4,s3,s2,s1;
KEY K_4()
BEGIN
2▶Entry;
Ans(1)*2▶s1; 
Ans(2)*2▶s2; 
Ans(3)*2▶s3;
Ans(4)*2▶s4;
RETURN "s4 s3 s2 s1";
END;

[Sukiari]

I bought one (a first gen) to host NewRPL when it becomes available for the Prime, and I’m really excited for that. But as an RPN calculator it sucks and I can’t figure out why HP even decided to try for the educational market because TI owns it right down to the step by step instructions in all the textbooks in the US and Canada, and Casio likewise in the rest of the world. I suppose it was one more of Carly’s giant mistakes which killed the old HP.

Sad!